


Small Sketches

by rcgxrs



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, They all need a hug, Tony and Bucky are friends, idk how that happened, romanogers - Freeform, totally ooc sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-14 15:40:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14139162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rcgxrs/pseuds/rcgxrs
Summary: In this world, when you write or draw something on your skin, it appears on the exact same place on the skin of your soulmate. And Natasha's hands were always full of small sketches.They were since she was five years old. And she admired the sketches because the person who did them was so talented.She never really believed in the soulmate thing. It seemed too unreal. But then she starts talking to her soulmate through their bond and she isn't so sure anymore.





	1. Small Sketches

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, before you start reading, just let me say that I am not English. I'm from the Czech Republic and I think my English isn't bad, but I can't be sure :) Well, I hope you will like this story and it would be really nice if you commented your opinion on it :)  
> Also, I really tried to keep their personalities, but I suck at that, so they are probably really OOC. I'm sorry for that.  
> More notes at the end.

_things written like this = the things they write on their hands._  
_ things written like this = texts from some books _

The bell rang and Natasha immediately got up and packed her things. She didn't have much time and she didn't want to be late again. Adam will be mad if she's late.

She ran through the corridors and put on her jacket while doing so. It was quite difficult, but she was used to being in hurry.

When she exited the building, she felt a shiver in her hand.  _God, not again_. She thought and then she loudly sighed. She used to like the small drawings, but then she got a boyfriend. And she started hating them, because they made her boyfriend, Adam, mad. He used to believe in the soulmate crap like everyone else. Then he met her, like he said, and stopped believing it, because they might not be soulmates, but they loved each other.

The cold wind made her hair fly behind her as she ran to the bus stop. If she's fast enough, she will catch the bus.

She pulled the sleeve of her jacket and looked at her forearm. The person was drawing again. It was pretty simple today, just some trees, but it was still beautiful. The person was an amazing artist. She would really like to meet him sometimes, maybe he could give her some advice.

The bus was already there when she reached the bus stop, but she managed to step into the door before the driver could close them. He glared at her angrily, but she didn't care. She paid him and went to sit down, only to find there was no place to sit. So she stood next to the door, freezing because of the open window next to her. She really should've taken a sweatshirt. But she wanted to look good because of the date. She knew she won't have time to change clothes.

After what felt like an eternity, the bus stopped near the club she was heading to and she exited it. She hated buses. There were too many people in them and she didn't like when there were too many strangers around her.

She looked at her phone. She still had five minutes left. She came on time and Adam will not be mad. Everything was okay.

But she still had to wait in the cold air for him.

She was shaking by the time he came and he didn't even notice. And what was even worse, he told her they are going to wait for some of his friends out there.

She really regretted not taking a sweatshirt.

\- - - - -

After the date (could she even call it a date?) ended, she had to walk home, because the buses didn't go this late. She slipped into her bed right away, she wanted to warm herself. She will shower in the morning.

Before she fell asleep, she looked at her arm. She did it every evening before going to sleep. It was a routine she had since she was a kid and she never thought about doing it.

But today, she noticed something new. She never missed a drawing appearing, she could feel it, but she missed this one. And it wasn't even a drawing. It was a message.

_Hi. How are you?_  it said.

That was ridiculous. Why did that person write something like that on his arm? Why didn't he just tell it to the person it was meant for?

But then, after some time, it came to her mind. What if it was meant for her? What if the person was trying to talk to her?

She could answer him. It wouldn't hurt her and the worst thing that could happen is that he would think she's weird for answering a note that wasn't meant for her. But she was willing to risk that. She didn't care what that person thought about her. She didn't even know him. But maybe it was time to change that.

She took a pen and slowly wrote:  _I'm fine. What about you?_

She waited for an answer for ten minutes, but then she realised it was already after midnight. The person is probably smart enough to be sleeping right now.

So she went to sleep too.

\- - - - -

She woke up when someone threw a pillow at her.

She quickly opened her eyes and prepared to fight, but then she realised it was just Clint. Clint, who was standing at her door, grinning at her while holding a plate with toast and eggs.

"Get up, or I'll eat your breakfast," he said and left her room.

She quickly got up and put on some clothes. She didn't even care what it was, she didn't have to go anywhere today. No school and no dates. It probably shouldn't feel so good, but it did. She was grateful for having a free day she could spend with Clint. They didn't have much free time together anymore.

When she came to their kitchen, he was just moving her plate closer to him and taking the toast. She sat down on her chair and hit his arm lightly. He looked at her, acting like he was hurt, but she knew him too well to believe it.

She took her plate back and ate her breakfast while chatting with Clint. And as always, he managed to get the conversation to the point where he could start talking about his girlfriend. He really loved her, but he talked about her all the time and it was getting almost annoying. But Nat wouldn't say a word about it. She was glad he was this happy.

Clint was like a brother to her. She knew him since she was six years old and they were inseparable ever since. Many people thought they would end up dating each other at some point, because they even lived together, but they were only happy to prove that the people were wrong. They were just friends.

When she finished her breakfast, Clint got up and started to put on his jacket. And her good mood was gone.

"I thought we were gonna have a day together?" she said, making it partly a question, because she wasn't sure about it anymore.

"Oh my god! I completely forgot! Tash, I'm so sorry! But I have this job interview and I have to go there. We can have a day together tomorrow, okay?" he smiles at her, but she could see the apologising look in his eyes. He really was sorry, she believed that.

"It's okay, just go. And of course, we can have a day together any other time," she assured him, not mentioning she had school tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that... and at the days she didn't have school, she had to meet Adam.

She didn't even know why she took it as her commitment to go out with Adam. She loved him. Or didn't she? She was confused for a long time now. But they were dating for over a year now, she didn't want to throw it away just because she was confused. But she didn't really enjoy any of their dates.

And she still couldn't bring herself to tell him about Clint.

Adam knew she wasn't living alone. When she told him she was living with a friend, he quickly assumed it was a girl and she was really nervous and scared that he would be mad or jealous, so she just nodded. So she lied to him for over a year now and she still couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth.

She really needed the shower she didn't have yesterday. She smelled like the club - like cigarettes and alcohol.   
She went to the bathroom and put down her clothes. Without thinking about it, she looked at her arm and gasped with surprise. There was an answer.

_I'm fine too. I didn't really believe you would answer, or that you could answer. This really works both ways then?_

She smiled a little. The person's handwriting was messy and like he was writing too fast to think about the way his handwriting looked or if she would be able to read it.

She quickly showered and then she went back to her room to get a pen.

_Yes, this does work both ways. Why wouldn't it?_

She left her sleeve pulled up, so she would be able to see the answer as soon as it appeared. She sat down on the bed and took her laptop. She didn't have anything to do, so she could at least watch a film.

\- - - - -

She woke up to the sound of keys unlocking the door. She didn't even know when she fell asleep, but it was probably shortly after the film started, because she didn't have a clue what it was about.

She closes the laptop, deciding she would watch the film again one day. But now Clint was more important.   
She went to the door to greet him properly, but he wasn't alone. He was standing in the doorway with a woman. And they were kissing.

She waited for them to finish what they were doing and then slowly waved her hand at them when they noticed her. The woman looked embarrassed, but Clint just grinned at her. She has seen worse.

"Hey, Tash. I didn't know you'll be at home. But at least I can finally introduce you to Laura!" he said, smiling widely.

Natasha smiles back at him, though her smile wasn't as genuine as his. For some reason, she had to force the smile to come. She should be happy for Clint, why wasn't she happy?

It wasn't jealousy, she was sure of that. She didn't like Clint romantically. She just missed the time they used to spend together. She just missed her friend.   
But he was happy. So she had to get past that.

"Hi. I'm Natasha. Please call me Nat and please, never ever call me Tash." she smiled at the woman and then glanced at Clint, who was still smiling like an idiot. He was the only person in the whole world who ever got the priority to call her Tash. Tash was personal and she hated when other people called her Tash.

"I'm Laura." said the woman. Her smile was kind and genuine and the woman seemed really lovely. She understood why she caught Clint's attention at the party half of a year ago.

She watched as Clint took Laura's coat, she watched the way they looked at each other, with love in their eyes... and she thought about Adam. Why couldn't their relationship be more like this?

She felt the well-known shiver in her arm and she looked there immediately. Words in that messy handwriting were quickly appearing there.

_You just never wrote anything. How come you don't write on your hands?_

She laughed quietly. The reason was simple - she didn't want to bother the person with her shitty drawings or the assignments of her homework.

She decided to lie about that. She would sound like an idiot if she told him that.

_I'm a normal person, you know? I've got a planner and that's where I write stuff down. Not on my hand. Although your homework sound interesting sometimes._

She wrote on her arm. Yes, he sometimes wrote his homework on his hand. And then she had to cover her hand in make-up so Adam wouldn't get mad or jealous. A part of him still believed the soulmate bullshit, she knew that.

The answer came faster than any of the previous ones.

_I have a planner too. I just don't carry it with me all the time. I think that's more normal than always having a planner with you. That sounds weird to me._

She couldn't help but laugh again. But they were running out of space and she had to do something about that. She didn't want to have to stop this conversation. She likes talking to that person.

She pulled a part of her trousers and wrote on her ankle:  _Carrying a planner is completely normal. But drawing nudes on your arm when you know it will also appear on someone else's isn't normal. that's just rude._  
_PS: We could continue here. I think there's more space here._

Then she waited for him to answer. When the shiver didn't come for a long time, she pulled her sleeve up again and wrote:  _Look at your leg._ Because maybe, he just missed it on his leg.

And that was probably true, because she felt the shiver again in less than a minute.

_Yeah, I wanted to apologise for that. That was actually my friend and I was sleeping when he did it._

Natasha didn't believe a word of that. This excuse was so common that no one actually believed it. She even used it, before she realised how common it is and that no one will believe her. So she came up with new ones.

_You know this excuse is probably the most used excuse ever? I don't believe a word of it._

She wrote and then waited for an answer. Writing on her leg was a lot less comfortable than writing on her arm, but there was really more space.

_Ok, I admit, that was a lie. I wrote it, but it wasn't my choice. I was dared to draw it. If i didn't do it, I would have to take off the last piece of clothing I had on myself, so I didn't really have a choice._

This time, Natasha believed it. This was either very good lie or an embarrassing truth and she decided to believe the latter one.

_It's ok. No one except me saw it, so no one else had any problem with their eyes._

She wrote and chuckled. Now she was just teasing him. It was a well done drawing, though not as much as the other ones.

_I hope it wasn't permanent._

_It wasn't, but if it was, there would be a long bill on your bank account soon, because you would pay for all my operations. I need my eyes for school and for my future job._

It felt really nice having someone to talk to. Adam was never a person you could just talk to, even though she thought he was when she started dating him. Clint spent all his time with Laura and the other people in school didn't really care about her problems or what she had to say.

So it was really nice to have someone who at least acted like he cared.

_Well, you would probably be disappointed, because I don't really have money to throw around me. But I have a friend who does. Maybe I should introduce you some day._

_Wow. You're probably the first soulmate who ever offered to his soulmate to meet his rich friend._

She looked at the sentence after she wrote it and it made her confused. Why was everything she ever said or wrote so confusing?

_I don't really believe this soulmate crap._

She smiled after reading that message. Finally someone who had the same opinion as her.

_Same here. Too much destiny and soulmate bullshit for it to actually be true._

_And it takes away the opport_

That was where the message ended. She tried to look at it from different angles to see if it could somehow make sense, but it didn't.

After five minutes, the rest started showing up.

_unity to actually choose your partner._  
_PS: Sorry for the pause. My pen stopped writing and I had to find another one. I actually had to take one of Bucky's, because mine get lost all the time. But I think Bucky steals them, so this is just taking back what's mine._

She felt a smile coming back to her lips. She didn't smile much these days, so her mouth already hurt from smiling too much, but she didn't really care. The good thing was that she finally had a reason to genuinely smile again.

She heard the doors closing and then someone walking towards her room. Then her door opened and Clint was standing in them.

"Laura just left. And I thought that we could still have the time together as we planned to," he said, looking a bit nervous, like if she was gonna get mad. But then he noticed her leg with lots of text on it.

"What the hell are you doing?" he laughed and came closer before she could cover it properly. She didn't want him to read it, so she shoved him away and covered my leg. She got up and walked into the living room. Then she sat on the couch and looked at him.

"There's some popcorn in the cupboard. Bring it here. I want to eat something." She commanded him, but that was okay, he was used to it.

He brought the popcorn and sat down next to her.

"Now talk. Why the hell does your leg looks like you just wrote a book on it?" he asked, already eating the popcorn.

"I... talked to the person," she said quietly.

He knew what she meant when she said the person. He knew she hated the term soulmate so she just called it the person. And he did the same thing in front of her, which she was really grateful for.

"What's he like?" he asked immediately. There was this excited look on his face and she just had to smile because of that. Really, she was smiling too much today. Her mouth needed its rest.

"He's okay, I think. We haven't talked much yet," she answered.

He looked at her with a disapproving look. "Your whole leg is covered in text. And I don't suppose you just randomly started on the leg, right? You just continued there, after some other place was already full. Like, I don't know, your arm?" he laughed.

She sighed. He knew her too well. But this may have been a lot to him, but it still wasn't much to her. She didn't trust people after one sentence. Or one message. Or whatever.

She pulled her trousers up again and answered.

_I suppose Bucky's your friend?_

The answer came immediately and she couldn't help thinking about it. Was he waiting for her to reply? Did he want her to reply?

_Yeah. I know him since I was seven._

_Ha! I have better one._

She reached for the band that was left on the table and tied her hair into a ponytail. She was growing them now, but she already wanted to cut them short again. She hated long hair.

_Well, now I'm curious._

She smiled at the message and wrote:  _I live with my best friend too. His name is Clint and I first met him when I was five years old._

_Best friend or boyfriend?_

She frowned. She really wasn't in a mood to answer any question of this type. She put the pen on the table and covered her leg again. She can answer him later.

The rest of the day was amazing. She sat on the couch with Clint, they ate popcorn and talked. Mostly about Laura, of course, but even about other things. And it was great again. It was as if nothing ever changed.

But then she woke up the second day. She woke up and she went to school and then she ran to the bus so she would get to the club before Adam. She thanked God it wasn't so cold as the last time and stood there for a while. And, to her surprise, Adam came alone and wasn't planning on bringing anyone else.

It made her think about the last time they were actually alone. It was a really long time ago, back when she would never question her feelings for him.

He took her to a restaurant and then to his flat. They watched a film together and everything was okay, until she reached for the plate to get some food and her sleeve pulled up. And Adam saw the writing.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her sleeve all the way up. There was anger in his eyes and she was scared for a moment. For a moment, she thought he would actually hurt her.

But he didn't. He didn't ask what it meant. He just got up and went to his bedroom.

She sat on the couch, unable to move. She was so scared that she just ruined her relationship. She didn't want to lose Adam. Maybe she didn't love him as much as she used to, but still, they were together for over a year. She didn't want this to change.

But it wasn't her choice anymore.

When Adam came back from his bedroom, he was holding a plastic bag full of something. He threw it at her and she looked inside immediately. It was a bag full of her clothes.

"Take it. It should be everything. And never come back." he said quietly, then turned his back to her and walked to the bedroom again. He slammed the door behind himself and it made her flinch.

She just ruined her relationship by talking to a complete stranger for two hours. Two stupid hours of talking to the stupid person and it ruined her relationship with Adam.

She knew there was no point in pleading or trying to explain. Adam was stubborn, he wouldn't listen to her. So she just took the plastic bag and left his apartment.

She promised herself she would never talk to the person again.

\- - - - -

She couldn't sleep that night. Everything was wrong. This isn't what was supposed to happen. She was happy with Adam, this confusion was just temporary and it would go away eventually. But no, she had to lose the relationship before it could go away.

Strangely, losing Adam didn't even hurt. It was just... weird. Weird to know she won't have to go to the bad smelling club with him and his friends again. Knowing that now, if someone asked her, she would say she's single, not taken.

And she was okay with that. And that was even weirder.

\- - - - -

_Why aren't you talking to me? Did I offend you in any way?_

That was Monday, when she was in school. It appeared on her left hand, where she would immediately see it.

She didn't answer.

\- - - - -

_Hey, if I did anything, I'm really sorry. I just wanted to get to know you._

That was Wednesday.

She had to admit, the urge to write something back was big. She wanted to answer so badly. But she couldn't. There wasn't anything like this soulmate bullshit and talking to the person never brought her anything good.

Except for the way a single, quite short conversation made her feel. Like he actually cared what she was saying.

\- - - - -

_Please, just answer. Just tell me you don't want to talk to me again  But please don't ignore me._

That was Saturday.

And she was too weak to resist the urge.

_My boyfriend broke up with me, because he saw the messages._

She wrote, before she could stop herself. Then she regretted it. Why did she write that? Why would the person care? He didn't know her, he didn't have to care about her problems. She was just being annoying again.

And why the hell was she so weak? Why couldn't she resist the urge to talk to him?

_I'm really sorry for that. I didn't realise I'm just gonna be a problem. Should I find Clint and tell him that there's nothing between us and that that was just a normal conversation between two people who just met?_

She was confused at first. Why did he use Clint's name?

And then she remembered. She told him about her relationship with Clint and he asked if he's her friend or boyfriend. And she never answered, so he probably assumed Clint's her boyfriend.

_Clint isn't my boyfriend. Adam was. And no, don't do anything. I'm okay._

_Now it would be really better if I could see your face, so I could guess if you mean okay as okay or okay as 120% heartbroken but too proud to say it out loud._

She couldn't help the laughter that came out of her. Thankfully no one noticed. She probably shouldn't be chatting with someone while being in class.

_I'm okay as okay. I don't think I loved him in the end. It actually doesn't feel bad to be single._

He didn't answer after this.

\- - - - -

She was in a better mood that day. She thought talking with the person made her happier. And you should do what makes you happy, right?

That's what she was telling herself when she washed her arm, so there were no signs of their previous conversation and wrote on it.

_Hi_

The answer came almost immediately.

_Hey_

She smiled. Even a single stupid Hey made her smile. Something was definitely wrong with her.

And then they talked. They talked for the whole evening and she ended with her arm and both legs black from the ink.

She smiled like an idiot when she went to sleep.

The person cared what she said. It was like Clint before he found Laura. Now he cared what she said more than he cared what Nat wanted to say. They still talked, but she mostly listened. She didn't want to bother him with her problems when he was clearly happy.

She felt like she didn't belong into that flat anymore. Clint often came there with Laura, looking like if he wanted to be alone with her. And she would let them be alone together, but she didn't have anywhere else to go.

But she started being better in classes.

Her drawings were good before, but now, they were great. They were great because she was happy while drawing them. And she was happy because of the person.

Maybe it was the right time to ask for his name.

She got home and she went right to her bedroom. She didn't want to meet Clint today. She still felt guilty about being in their flat all the time, because he obviously didn't want her here when he brought Laura.

_I was wondering... I always called you the person. But I think it would be nice to call you by your name... So, can you tell me your name?_

She wrote her message on her arm and waited for an answer. She thought it would come soon, because he always answered as soon as he could, but this time, it didn't come.

\- - - - -

She waited days for an answer. And then she realised this is what he must've felt when she didn't answer him after she broke up with Adam. Maybe he had some problems in his life. She had to leave him alone.

But she still wrote the message again every day, so it wouldn't wash off.

And then, after two weeks, an answer appeared. Short and simple, but that was all she needed.

_Steve_

_Tash_

She wrote her answer without thinking about it, but then she realised what she did. She basically told him to call her Tash. That wasn't gonna end well. He's gonna call her Tash, she's gonna get mad and then sad and she won't want to talk to him again.

She sighed. Her life was getting weirder and weirder.

\- - - - -

_Nice to meet you, Tash._

The answer came after two hours. And it didn't make her mad. It didn't make her sad... It did nothing, except for an actually quite nice feeling inside of her. She didn't know what it was, but it was there and she liked it.

_Nice to meet you, Steve._

She replied and smiled.

_We should meet for real._

That was something she wasn't prepared for. It didn't even come to her mind that she could meet the person - Steve, she reminded herself - in real life. She liked their relationship like it was, easy and.... not actually real.

But she can't just tell him that she doesn't want to meet him. That would be rude and she didn't want to be rude. She liked Steve and she hated being rude towards people she liked.

And then she realised she just marked him as a person she liked.

The realisation was too much. This was never supposed to happen. She had plans. And yes, one of her plans was to not like her soulmate. She wanted to prove that it's possible to have a happy life with someone that isn't your soulmate.

And now she lost a bet with herself.

She needed to talk to someone about it. But you can't really talk about someone with that someone, so Steve was out of the picture. And Clint was out of the picture for weeks now. He spent all his free time with Laura and acted like he forgot they were ever good friends. He didn't even make dinner for her when he was doing it for himself.

She needed to talk to someone.

But she didn't have anyone.

She lied down on her bed and fell asleep within minutes. That was the only good thing about being sad and alone. She didn't have troubles with sleeping.

But the next day, she felt more tired than she ever felt in her entire life. She managed to look like every other day, but it was harder than the other days. She washed off the message about meeting and decided that she would not think about it and that she will eventually forget that. In the meantime, she had to do function normally.

And she had to talk to Clint.

She couldn't do that anymore. The flat was quiet all the time, they haven't talked in weeks and g made her really sad when she realised it.  She was so busy with talking to Steve - the person. She should start calling him the person again - that she hadn't even missed Clint that much.

But now, when she couldn't talk to Steve, she missed Clint like if somebody took away a part of herself. And she realised that this is probably her fault too. It wasn't only Clint's fault, she just said that to herself before so she wouldn't have to feel guilty.

She really needed to talk to him.

\- - - - -

She caught him before he left to his date with Laura the other day.

"Clint... I think we need to talk," she told him.

"Yes, we do. But now I need to go. We'll talk when I come back, okay?" he answered and gave her a quick hug.

It felt amazing. It meant that he wasn't mad at her, that they were gonna sort things out... She couldn't be happier.

But she still had to sort things out with Steve.

She had to answer him. This thing she was doing... It was rude and cruel. Maybe even worse than telling him she doesn't want to meet him immediately.

But she still didn't know what to tell him. He still didn't really want to meet him and she was still really taken back by the fact that she liked him, because that was the exact opposite of her plans. Now she had to make new plans for future and that was hard. Too hard.

She's gonna need Clint. He will tell her what to do.

\- - - - -

When Clint came back, it was quite late. Maybe he hoped he would be able to avoid Natasha if he comes home this late, but he was wrong. She was sitting in the living room on the couch.

"Hi," he said while sitting down next to her.

She immediately looked at him and he saw the panic in her eyes. He disturbed her when she was preparing what to say. Probably what to say to him. And now she will panic, she will start stuttering and babbling everything at once chaotically.

So he started first: "Tash, you've known me almost your whole life. You know you don't have to prepare speeches for me."

"Maybe I don't. I didn't know. I wasn't sure. I'm not sure about anything with you anymore. And I thought it was your fault, that you liked Laura more than me and that you would want to eat rid of me. But then I realised it was my fault too, because I spent all my time chatting with Steve and completely forgot about you. I'm so sorry."

She was trying to call down with every sentence she said, but she was still breathing too fast and her heart was bouncing. She hasn't been this nervous in a long time.

"It's okay, Tash. I did the same thing with Laura. I spent all my time with her instead of focusing even a bit on our friendship. So please, don't feel guilty and I won't feel guilty. Okay?"

Clint moved closer and hugged her tightly. They didn't need many words for their friendship to be okay. They needed actions. And this hug was telling so much more than their words.

"So what about Steve, then?" Clint asked, winking at Nat.

"He... He wants to meet me," answered Nat as fast as she could.

"Meet you?" Clint asked again, probably just to be sure he understood good, because it wasn't easy to understand her when she was talking too fast. "That's great, isn't it?"

"No, it isn't.  I had plans! I planned to prove the world that they were wrong about soulmates, that you can easily be happy with anyone else, but then I met Steve. And I like him. I like him a lot. And it ruined all my plans about proving the world that they're wrong and now I realised I was wrong and I hate that feeling so much!" she was probably talking in super speed now.

"You should meet him. Maybe when you see him and he's ugly, you will stop liking him. So go for it." Clint smiled at her.

"I'll do it." she said. "but if anything happens to me, it's your fault"

\- - - - -

She told Steve she will meet him. He told her an address where she should wait. That was all.

She did her best to look better than normal. She still had to cut her hair, because they were much longer than she would like them to be, but she couldn't do that now.

She went to the address he told her and found out it was a restaurant. That felt nice, she hasn't been in a proper restaurant for a long time.

The problem was when she realised she doesn't know how he looks, so she doesn't know who she should look for. And should she wait outside or go inside?

She decided she could wait outside for some time and then go inside. But she didn't stay outside for a long time - it was getting colder and colder and she was soon shaking.

She opened the door to the restaurant and went in. It was nice, probably not some of the restaurants where rich people would go, but none of them was rich, so this place was perfect.

She looked at every person in the room and saw lots of pairs. And then she saw two men sitting alone. They both looked around the same age as her and she swore in her head for being so stupid for not asking about any other information.

But then one of them looked at her and smiled. He pulled his sleeve up and parts of their conversation, now smudged and blurry showed. She smiled too and went to sit with him.

She looked at him again, this time more cautiously. He didn't look like any kind of pervert or like he was going to murder her. And he was actually really handsome. He looked tall, but she couldn't say how much, because he was sitting. His hair was short and blond and he had really beautiful eyes. Like, really really beautiful.

But she couldn't let him catch her staring at him. That would be embarrassing.

"Hi. I'm your soulmate," she spoke first and then grinned at him, so he will know she wasn't serious.

He seemed tense before, but after she spoke, he relaxed a bit. "Nice to meet you, soulmate." he grinned back at her and then they both started laughing.

It was nice to get to talk to him in person and she started thinking that this actually wasn't a bad idea. They ate food, they talked, they laughed... The evening was really nice.

And it felt good to actually know some personal information about him. He was in senior year of the same college at her (really, how did she never noticed him before? He was really handsome), he lived with his friend Bucky, since his mum died and they spent lots of time with Tony, that was the rich friend.

She smiled like an idiot when she told everything to Clint. And she still smiled like an idiot later when she went to sleep.

She never felt like this with anyone.

\- - - - -

The other day, Steve waited for her in front of their school. He smiled as soon as he saw her and walked towards her, greeting her happily. Then he continued doing that every day.

They didn't write on their hands as much as before, because they could talk normally and they agreed that it's annoying to always have to wash it off, because it doesn't want to disappear. But when they wanted to see the other one, they just wrote place and time on their forearm and the other one would see it and come there.

Everything was amazing. Too amazing. Her plans didn't matter anymore. Steve was more important.

\- - - - -

Steve got up soon almost every day. He was used to doing it and he didn't think it was weird, even when all his friends thought so.

That day was supposed to be normal, like every other day. He wanted to wait in front of the school for Natasha, then talk to her while they go to their classes. Then meet her after all their classes were over and go to this really great cafeteria they found two weeks ago. Then he would go back home and spend the evening with Bucky and Tony, probably playing video games or just talking.

But that day wasn't really normal.

It started when the first drawing appeared. It wasn't anything difficult, just some symbols and stuff like that. It really didn't make sense to him. But it was weird. This wasn't something Natasha would draw. And even if she would draw it, she wouldn't draw it in her skin. She never did that. He still didn't know why, but he was sure she will tell him someday.

So what the hell was this? The skin bond worked only between two people, there was never a third one.

He took a long sleeve t-shirt that day, so no one would see the drawings. He didn't want to keep it a secret from Nat, but he didn't want to tell her when he didn't know what it meant.

After school, he didn't go to the cafeteria with Nat. He went to the library, to look if he could find anything about what was happening to him. How could something like this even happen? Only Nat should be able to draw on his skin through the skin bond.

He was confused and mad. Why did this have to happen? He just wanted some time with Nat, not sitting in the library until they closed it trying to find out what was happening with him.

\- - - - -

He came back to the library every day. Every day, he looked for a book that will explain at least something.

But nothing ever explained anything.

\- - - - -

Natasha was sure she did something wrong. There wasn't any other reason Steve could have for avoiding her.

She tried talking to him about it, but he got nervous and waved her off. She barely saw him last week.

And her hands were clean. For the first time in her life, there were no drawings or texts for over two weeks.

Steve's hands were not.

She didn't know what was wrong. But one day, he started wearing t-shirts with long sleeves. That wasn't anything weird because it was quite cold. But then he started acting weird around her. He slowly stopped talking to her, stopped going anywhere with her... and then, one day, didn't even wait for her before school.

And then something came to her mind. If his hands were full of drawings and hers were not... They weren't soulmates. The universe, or whatever, decided that their bond was a mistake and gave Steve another chance.

So she lost Steve.

She stopped trying to talk to him and started building her walls back up. And she returned to her plan. She was going to show the world that you can be happy with someone who isn't your soulmate.

And she started drawing on her hands. It didn't matter now, did it? She wasn't going to bother anyone with her drawings because her skin bond with Steve isn't there anymore and she doubted she got someone else.

\- - - - -

_ In the history of our world, there were some pairs who suddenly lost their skin bond. It was because the God admitted he made a mistake in pairing them and broke their skin bond. Then he could give them another soulmate, or he could not. There were many people who didn't have a soulmate anymore after the God broke their first skin bond. _

\- - - - -

Steve put the book down and sighed. He didn't want to lose Natasha and he didn't think she was a mistake. She was the best person he ever met, why would the God think they're not true soulmates?

And did the drawings on his hands mean that the God gave him another soulmate?

Because if that was true, he just had to find the person and show everyone that the God was wrong with changing his soulmate.

He didn't draw on his hands anymore. He didn't want the new person to see his drawings.

Steve knew he hurt Nat. He saw the look on her face. But he needed to make this right before he goes to apologise to her. He just had to hope she will forgive him.

So he started looking for the new person. He refused to call the person his soulmate because Nat was his soulmate and no one will make him change that opinion. That was what he believed.

He probably looked weird when he stared at everyone's hands, but he had to find that person. But after some time, it looked like he will never find the girl.

But then he saw her. She was sitting in the corner of every class, far from other people, without anyone around her. And she was drawing on her hand at the same moment something was appearing on his hand.

But he couldn't be sure. This could be some weird accident.

He took a pen and wrote a simple  _Hey_ on his hand. Then he watched the girl to see her reaction.

She looked at him and saw he's looking at her. Then she looked like she saw the most terrifying thing in the universe. She looked back at her hand and acted like the thing she wanted the most was to disappear.

He got up and walked towards her. She didn't look like someone who could be his soulmate.

"Hey," he said and sat on the chair next to her.

She slowly looked up at him, looking really nervous. He tries to look calm, so she would calm down, but he was actually freaking out a bit. This girl couldn't be his soulmate. Like, she was pretty, but that didn't mean anything. She looked scared of him, but she also had this weird look in her eyes... He didn't know how to call it, but it reminded him of the way athletes looked when they just won the Olympics.

"Hi," she answered nervously.

He decided to be straight. Their class will start soon and he wanted this to be over.

"What have you done to my bond with Natasha?" he said. Maybe it could seem a bit harsh, but he didn't care at the moment.

"I... What?" she asked after a while. She looked confused now, but Steve noticed the quick look before, like if she was thinking about a good lie.

"My bond with Natasha Romanoff. It was there and now it isn't. Now I have a bond with you and I don't want to have a bond with you. So did you have any part in breaking my bond with Natasha?"

He actually didn't know if it's possible for another person to break their bond. But he once heard a myth about people who could do that. Yes, it was just a myth, but what if it was at least partly true? Then he could find that person and make them give him and Natasha their bond back.

"I didn't do anything, I swear. I would never..." the girl started talking again, but Steve stopped her.

"Do you know anyone who can mess with the bonds?"

"No one except the God can mess with the bonds." the girl snorted and looked at him like he was an idiot.

"I heard a different thing. So did you do anything to my bond with Natasha?" Steve was getting mad. He didn't want to be rude to the girl, she probably really didn't do anything, but he couldn't help himself. She was not his soulmate, he knew that for sure.

"No, I didn't. So stop being an asshole. Really, the girl who doesn't have to be your soulmate now is really lucky. I always thought you were a nice person, but I guess I was wrong." the girl frowned at him and then turned back to her textbooks.

Steve slowly stood up and went back to his seat. He was really rude. He needs to apologise to the girl after this whole thing is over.

He couldn't concentrate on anything the teachers told them that day. Well, he couldn't concentrate for weeks now. The only thing he could think about was his bond with Natasha and why the hell it broke.

He needed to talk to her. He didn't solve anything yet, but he missed her so much. Solving this would need to wait.

After classes ended, he walked straight to her flat and knocked on the door. He waited for a while and when it finally opened, he found himself staring into the face of a young man. Clint, probably.

"Is Natasha here?" he asked without even greeting. He needed to talk to her.

"No, she went out. Anything you want me to tell her when she gets home?"

"Just tell her I was here. Steve. Tell her Steve was here and that I need to talk to her," he said, probably sounding really confused. Then he turned to leave, but Clint stopped him.

"You're Steve?"

"Yeah," he answered and looked back at Clint.

"You're an idiot and you didn't deserve her. I'm Clint, by the way," Clint frowned at him and closed the door, without waiting for a reply.

"I know," Steve mumbled to himself when he walked out of the building.

\- - - - -

_ There are rumours about people who can break the bonds and create new ones. According to the myths, people often sought them out to pay them for doing that. _

_ There is no evidence proving these people really existed. For now, we have to admit it's just a rumour. _

\- - - - -

Steve closed the book and rubbed his eyes. He was exhausted and all this didn't lead to anything. It was all a waste of time and he knew that now.

He was ready to give up on finding out why the bond broke. But he still needed to win Natasha back. Because he was still sure no one else could be his soulmate. She is and he would never admit anything else.

He put the book back in its place and exited the library. He walked to his and bucky's flat and bought them dinner on the way. He knew they didn't have anything there.

When he got there, he found Bucky and Tony sitting on the couch talking. They spotted him immediately and quickly got up. They reminded him of puppies trying to find out if anything among the food is for him.

He took three plates and looked at what he brought. He didn't count on Tony being there, so they will have to eat less today, but it was still enough.

He gave them the food and sat on the couch next to them, quietly listening to their conversation. He really wasn't in the mood for talking.

\- - - - -

The feeling that she could draw on her hands without anyone seeing it without her permission was actually quite good. So Natasha drew on her hands all the time now. She didn't have a soulmate, so it didn't matter.

Mostly, she drew small caricatures of people around her. It was funny and she loved showing them to Clint in the afternoon while they were eating dinner.

"Steve was here today."

That surprised her. She really wouldn't expect him to show up after weeks of not talking to her. Maybe he felt bad and came to apologise? Because that was a really Steve thing to do.

"What did he say?" she asked Cling, who was looking at his food like if he wanted to murder it.

"He didn't actually say anything. Just to tell you that he was here," Clint shrugged his shoulders and continued eating.

"Okay."

Now she was even more confused about that. If he didn't come to apologise to her, what did he need?

She looked at one caricature of Steve. It was on her left hand, where it will remind her of the fact that he's not there for her anymore.

\- - - - -

The sketches kept appearing on Steve's hands. He hated them. Stupid lines and caricatures and similar things. It was so annoying and he spend so much time washing his hands that they were red most of the time. If the sketches were Natasha's, he would love them. But he knew these are the girl's and he didn't like her.

He kept wearing t-shirts with long sleeves because he didn't want other people to see the drawings. It wasn't weird because the winter was starting and people started dressing warmer. The only one who noticed the change was Bucky.

They were sitting in Tony's apartment playing video games, Bucky was winning, as always. He had a talent for video games and he always won. Tony was the only one who still enjoyed playing with Bucky because he still hoped he could win one day.

"So why are you dressing so weirdly all of a sudden?" he asked, still looking at the screen.

Steve hadn't told them any details. He didn't know why, but he felt kind of ashamed for it. There wasn't a reason to be ashamed, but he still did. Like if it was his fault that their bond broke and he didn't find out why.

"You know about my bond with Natasha, right?" he asked and looked up at them.

"Of course we know. You've been talking about it in the past weeks. Is something wrong?" Bucky answered him, still not looking at him. The game was more important for him at the moment. He didn't know anything serious was going on.

"It broke," he admitted and looked back down. But he still saw both of his friends immediately forgetting the video game and turning to face him.

"What?" Tony was the first one to break the silence.

"But you were perfect together! You were soulmates!" Bucky said and put the remote on the couch next to him.

"I thought so. But it looks like it's not true. Plus, I have a new soulmate. It's a girl from my class and she doesn't look like someone who could be my soulmate at all," Steve replied, shrugging his shoulders a little. He did that sometimes when he was nervous.

"And what about Natasha? Does she know?" Tony looked at him with curiosity in his eyes. He has never seen anyone who's bond was broken and replaced.

"I think she does. I... Well, I wanted to find a reason why our bond isn't there anymore and in the process, I kind of completely stopped talking with her," Steve admitted, being really ashamed of himself. He was a complete idiot, he knew that now. Natasha didn't even believe in the soulmate thing, she would stay with him even if they weren't soulmates. Doing what he did was the worst thing he could do in that situation. Now he only had to hope that she will forgive him one day. That was if he even dared to talk to her again.

"You did what?" Bucky almost shouted at him. Then there was a crashing sound and a shout coming from the TV when someone shot Tony's character. Tony didn't seem to care. He was watching Steve with the same look as Bucky. They were both a bit mad, a bit judgmental and a bit sad for him. It didn't make him feel any better.

"I know I'm an idiot, please don't make this even worse..." Steve told them, got up from the chair and went out of the apartment. He wanted to be alone for a while, so he just wandered the streets, not going home yet.

He was starting to get cold when he bumped into someone. He didn't even look up, just apologised and continued to walk.

"Steve?" he heard someone say. Well, he knew who it was. He recognised her immediately.

He turned and looked at Natasha, giving her a shy smile.

"Hi." He waved at her, didn't even know why. And he was really nervous. He was never nervous before in her company. Everything felt so natural between them before.

The guy she lived with was standing next to her, frowning at him. He probably bumped into him.

Natasha just stood there, looking at him, surprise and a bit of anger in her eyes. He wasn't surprised she was mad at him. He would be concerned if she wasn't.

And he was just staring at her like a complete idiot, not knowing what to say. He didn't even know how to talk anymore. He wanted to apologise, to tell her everything that happened, to tell her he regrets what he did and gnat he wants to talk with her again. But he didn't say anything.

And he screwed up again.

After a while, Natasha just turned her back at him and started walking away. He quickly caught her up and looked into her eyes. She was returning his gaze like if she was trying to win.

"I'm sorry, Tash. I screwed up, I really did. I should've told you what was happening, not just cut you out of my life like that..."

"Then tell me," she interrupted him, crossing her arms over her chest. She still didn't break their gaze.

It took a moment for her words to get to him. He needed a while to find the right words and she looked like she was going to turn around and go away when he finally spoke.

"The bond. I found out it was gone when the drawings started appearing on my hands. And I wanted to know what happened because I was sure you were my soulmate and no one would make me believe anything else. So I started digging through all the books in the library, trying to find out what happened. And I was a complete idiot and forgot to make time for you. I don't even know why I didn't want to tell you. I felt so ashamed of the drawings appearing on my hands. I hate them so much. Because I always imagined that when I finally have drawings on my hand that are not mine, they're gonna see yours and it would mean you trust me enough to draw on your hands. Guess I was an idiot..."

And when Steve got all of this from him, he couldn't stop. He told Natasha about the girl, how he met her, how he found out there are legends about some people who can affect the bonds and how he came to their flat to apologise but when she wasn't there, he panicked and ran off.

When he finished, he watched her for a moment.

"So you found your new soulmate?" she asked, breaking their gaze for the first time and looking at her shoes.

"Yes, but that's not the point. I don't like her, she's not my soulmate, I'm sure of that," Steve answered immediately, not thinking about what he was saying. This was what he believed. He still believed Natasha was his soulmate. she was perfect for him.

But maybe he wasn't perfect for her.

That was the first time this ever occurred him. All the time, he was so sure Natasha was the perfect woman for him but he never realised that the bond maybe didn't break because of him, but because of her. Maybe he wasn't the right one for her.

"You don't know her. She may turn out to be amazing. Try to get to know her," Natasha told him with a small smile. So she was trying to get rid of him. Okay, he could do that. That wasn't a problem.

"Bye Steve."

Natasha turned her back on him and started walking away. And he didn't do anything to stop her.

Right before he wanted to go back home, he noticed a drawing on Natasha's hand. She never drew anything on her skin.

She had a new soulmate too. And she was probably happy.

He walked home slowly, staring at his feet. He was so mad at himself. How could he not realise that he wasn't the right guy for Natasha? Instead, he kept bothering her, kept asking her out and she was probably saying yes just out of pity and the fact that she didn't have to make him feel bad. She was probably relieved when their bond broke.

When he got home, Bucky was already there, but Steve really wasn't in a mood to talk to anyone. He just went right to his bedroom and went to sleep.

\- - - - - -

When Clint and Natasha walked around the corner and Clint was sure Steve can't hear them anymore, he stopped, turned to Natasha and frowned at her.

"Why the fuck did you tell him to get to know the new girl! You should have kissed him right there on the street!" he told her angrily. At the moment, he thought she was an idiot. She liked the guy, a lot, so why the hell did she just push him to another girl? He really didn't understand that.

"I just want him to be happy, okay? I'm not gonna be the one standing in the way between him and his soulmate!" Natasha almost yelled at him, because she was trying so hard to not start to freak out at the moment she had problems with not screaming at the top of her lungs. Clint was right, she was a fucking idiot, but she really wanted Steve to be happy.

"You used to say that you don't believe in the soulmate crap," Clint said, starting to walk again.

"I don't. But he does and I think he deserves to be with his soulmate if he believes in it."

\- - - - -

Steve was sitting in the classroom, not talking to anyone, just drawing some things on his hand. He didn't care that they're gonna appear on the hand of the girl too.

But then he remembered what Natasha said. She told him to get to know the girl.

He could just get up, walk to her, apologise and then talk with her in a normal way. But that wasn't really his style.

He took a pen and wrote  _Hi_ on his hand. He didn't look at the girl, just waited for her answer.

It didn't come in that class and not even in the next few hours.

\- - - - -

Natasha opened the door to their flat, hoping to find Clint inside because she really needed to tell him something.

Something appeared on her hand again. A text. And she didn't know what to do.

Clint was sitting on the couch with Laura leaning to him. They were watching some film and she wouldn't interrupt them any other day, but today she really didn't care about anything else.

She walked to them and tapped on Clint's shoulder. He turned to her, surprised. They probably haven't even heard her coming in.

"Hey. Yes, I'm home. I just came. And I need your help. It's urgent," she said, getting right to the point. She needed to know what to do as soon as possible.

Clint looked concerned for a moment, turned his full attention to her. Laura was just awkwardly sitting there next to him, apparently not knowing what to do.

Natasha sat down on the couch next to Clint and pulled up her sleeve. Clint and Laura stared at the short word for a while, then Clint looked up at her, questioning if she was crazy, drunk or if something actually happened and he just doesn't get it.

"Hi. That's nice. How is the fact that you wrote Hi on you hand something urgent?" he asked.

"I didn't write it," Natasha quietly answered. "And now I don't know what to do. Should I reply? The last time I did it and it didn't work well, as you know, and I don't want another guy claiming he's my soulmate... I'm not sure I want to reply."

To her surprise, the one who answered her first wasn't Clint. It was Laura.

"Do what you want to do. If I have the right information, which I'm not really sure of, this is how you got to know Steve, right? And you like him, I can see that whenever someone says his name. So you can get to know this new guy or you can just ignore him. It's really your choice..."

That sounded good and reasonable, but it didn't help Natasha a bit. She didn't know what she wanted to do, so she needed someone to tell her what to do. She smiled at Laura, silently thanking her for her advice, but then she looked at Clint, waiting for his advice.

"Answer it. If not for you, I want to know who's your new soulmate," he laughed, looking at the hand again. Natasha saw a slight change in his eyes and it made her look at her hand too.

Another message was appearing there.

_I know I was really rude to you the last time we talked, but I'm really sorry for that. I would like to get to know you more :)_

"This clearly isn't meant for me," Natasha said, thinking that the decision has been made because the person probably didn't mean to talk to her.

"It isn't, but you're still gonna reply. Because I'm still curious who it is," Clint told her, not leaving any place for complaints. This was one of the rare times when he took the dominant role in their friendship, normally it was Natasha bossing him around. He must have been enjoying that.

"Okay," she answered, took a pen that was lying on the table and wrote:  _Hi. I don't think you meant to talk with me, but the text appeared on my hand too. How are you?_

Clint looked at her like if she was an idiot, but he didn't say anything. He and Laura returned to watching the film after a few minutes of nothing. Natasha didn't want to bother them anymore, so she got up and went to her room. She had this really comfortable armchair there and she really liked sitting in it.

_Of course, I meant to talk with you. Why would I write a message on my hand if it wasn't meant for you?_

She looked at his answer and thought about it for a minute. It made sense, what another reason could the person have for writing a message on his hand? But what did he mean when he said he wants to apologise for being rude to her? She couldn't remember anyone being rude to her in the last few days.

_Then what did you mean when you said you wanted to apologise? As far as I know, we never met, or I don't know who you are._

She took a book from her night table, so she would have something to do while they weren't chatting, but his answer came almost immediately.

_Well if you're telling me the truth, I really need to apologise to one girl. So you're my soulmate now?_

She frowned at the message. This person wasn't probably gonna be someone she'll like, because he called himself her soulmate after what, five minutes of texting? No, she definitely didn't like him yet.

_I don't really believe in the soulmate bullshit. It's too much like a fairy tale._

After that, he didn't answer anymore. She probably just offended him and he wasn't going to talk with her again.

It actually didn't surprise her that she didn't care.

\- - - - -

When the girl answered him, Steve was confused. How could she forget about him behaving like an idiot? He was really rude towards her and she didn't even remember it.

That was probably a good thing.

He was sitting in a bar with Tony, both of them watching Bucky impressing the girls. He was really good at that. Steve used to get jealous because of it when they were younger, because Steve always got nervous around pretty girls, but then they finished high school and went to college and their lives changed too much for him to think about that kind of thing. And then he met Natasha and he didn't need to impress any other girl anymore.

Until now.

He still wasn't sure if he wanted to talk with the girl, but he still replied, using the small pen Tony always carried with himself. This wasn't the first time Steve was grateful for it.

And then Steve thought about his weird situation and the weird girl... Maybe he has another soulmate again. It probably shouldn't be changing so fast, but what could he do about it? Nothing, of course.

So for now, he decided to think about the person he was texting with as someone he never met.

And then the girl said she doesn't believe in the soulmate thing. The first thing that came to Steve's mind was Natasha, telling him the exact same thing. It seemed so long ago...

He forgot to reply to the girl after that.

\- - - - -

Annoying tickling woke Natasha up. She felt it on her hand and she thought that it was just Clint, using his creative ways to wake her up, so she didn't even bother to open her eyes and moved her hand in the direction where she thought he would be, so she could push him.

But nothing was there.

She opened her eyes and looked at her hand. A drawing was slowly appearing there. She couldn't really say what it was at that moment, so she just waited a while until it was finished.

After a while, the drawing became s small bird, sitting on a branch. It was quite cute.

Without thinking about it, she took a pen and wrote  _cute bird_ under the drawing.

_Thank you_ appeared under her text after s moment.

_How are you?_ appeared right after that.

_Fine_ she wrote, even though she wasn't. She really missed Steve, but she would never talk about her emotions with a complete stranger.

_That's great. I'm fine too, by the way, if you were wondering._

The answer made Natasha smile. This person looked confident and like if he knew what he was doing. Maybe he was used to chatting with girls like this.

Or maybe he just had a talent for it.

_No, I wasn't really wondering about it, but it's nice to know._

She got up, went to the bathroom and went to wash her hand. But right after all of the old texts disappeared, a new one started to form on the inside of her arm.

_I really want to get to know you better. Could we meet?_

Natasha stared at the message on her hand. She didn't want to meet this person. Not now.

_Not. Not now. I don't want to meet you when I don't know anything about you. I prefer to get to know you like this if it isn't a problem._

She looked at what she wrote and started to feel embarrassed. Maybe she shouldn't have replied at all.

_Ok, if it's what you want. I don't mind. So tell me something about you._

This was awkward. This kind of getting to know someone was the one she hated the most. She didn't know what to say about herself. Why couldn't this person just be more like Steve? With Steve, everything just came naturally, like if they really were meant to start talking and to be friends... And maybe something more.

She didn't answer it. She didn't know how to answer it.

\- - - - -

Steve missed Natasha. He was sure of it. He missed waiting for her before school and walking with her on the way to classes. He missed talking with her when they went to their favourite cafeteria together.

Yup, he was totally screwed up.

He had to forget about her because she seemed like she already forgot about him. He was glad she was happy, but he still wanted to have her back.

Technically, they didn't date. But it sure felt like they did.

And now even the new girl wasn't answering his messages. First, she refused to meet him. He wasn't surprised because he wouldn't probably go meet anyone he didn't know. But then he asked her to tell him something about herself and she didn't reply.

Maybe he just asked the wrong question.

He took a pen and wrote  _How was your day?_

He didn't wait for an answer. As far as he knew, it wasn't even going to come.

But after few minutes, it was there.

_Fine, actually. School was okay._

He smiled a little. He got an answer, that's a progress.

_That's great. What do you study?_

He hoped he didn't push too far. Maybe she didn't want him to know these things about her.

_Art_

So they had something in common. They both studied art. That's great, it meant they had something to start from.

But there was still this feeling... He felt like this was familiar. He thought it was probably just because this was how he got to knew Natasha.

\- - - - -

_I study Art too._

When the answer appeared on her hand, she smiled. They had something in common, that was great.

She decided to get to know this person. Steve had a new soulmate and he had a chance to be happy with her. So she deserved to get a chance to be happy too. She still didn't believe that person was her soulmate. She didn't have a soulmate. But it could be nice to have someone to talk to.

They found out they went to the same college. That was weird because this was the second time her 'soulmate' went to the same place as her almost every day and she had no idea who it was.

Well, he was two years older, but that didn't matter. It was still the same school.

She wanted to know who he was. She was gonna find out without his help.

\- - - - -

She looked at every guy from the last year and tried to find out who could be her soulmate. She even drew some stuff on the back of her hand, but she couldn't see the same ones on anyone.

Maybe the person lied to her.

After two weeks of trying to find him and trying to get him to tell her any kind of information that could help her, she gave up.

She knew that he was tall and that he had light hair. She knew he used to play football. She knew he was in the last year and she knew he has the same drawings as she has on the back of the hand.

But that probably wasn't enough. Or some of these things he told her were fake.

_Okay, I'm giving up. I tried to find you, tried to use all the information i for about you and failed. So there are two options now: 1) i'm an idiot and can't find you 2) you gave me fake info. So which one is it?_

She wrote the message and pulled her sleeve down. She felt too embarrassed to look at the answer right when it came. But she really needed to know who the person was.

She actually started liking talking with him. He reminded her of Steve quite a lot, they had similar opinions on many things and he wrote in a similar style. Sometimes she had to remind herself it was another person. It was actually quite weird how similar he was, but she decided to let it be for now because she didn't need any more things to think about.

She felt a tickle on her arm. The answer came, but she didn't want to look at it now.

She waited for hours, she wanted to read it when she was already at home, but then she lost it. She just pulled her sleeve up, because she was too curious.

_Well, let me just say that you're not an idiot. But I didn't give you any fake information. Maybe you just don't look the right way. But now I want to try to find you too. So, tell me something about you, some information that can help me find you._

And Natasha did. She didn't think of it, didn't think of how this could mean she's gonna meet him. She actually wanted to meet him. She had this feeling of... being home? Yeah, you could call it like that. She felt the same way with Steve before all of this.

\- - - - -

_Red hair, quite_ _short_ _. I do ballet..._

That was all Steve needed to know. He stopped reading after this and just stared at the wall.

This description fit only on Natasha.

The girl he was chatting with for the last few weeks was Natasha.

But how could it be her? He thought she had a different soulmate and he did have the skin bond with some other girl too...

Maybe the God finally admitted they were perfect for each other.

He smiled like an idiot the whole evening, refusing to tell Bucky or stony anything about the reason why. After some time, they left it and probably made their own theory, most likely weird and crazy. But he didn't care now.

He had Natasha back.

Everything felt amazing for several hours. But then, when he was trying to fall asleep, he realised that Natasha probably doesn't know it's him. And what if she was glad she had someone else now. What if she will be disappointed when she finds out he's still her soulmate?

But he still had to tell her. She deserved to know.

\- - - - -

Natasha was walking the school corridors, not paying attention to where she was going. So it wasn't a big surprise she bumped into someone. That didn't happen often, she never let herself walk like this, without paying. attention. But it surprised her enough for her to drop her things on the floor.

The person she bumped into didn't even apologise, just walked away, leaving her to collect her things alone. She didn't expect anything else from someone who goes to this school. People here were often like that.

But then there were two other hands helping her collect her things. She didn't look up at the person, just said a quick thank you and hurried up. Why did she always carry so much stuff in her arms? She had a backpack, after all. She should use it.

But then she saw something on the other person's hand. A small drawing of a kitten. The one she drew on her hand that morning.

She risked a glance up, so she would know who this person is. But then she found herself completely freezing, just staring into his face with surprise in her eyes.

Steve had the same drawing as her on his skin. That meant he was the person she was talking with for the last few weeks.

But that didn't make sense.

She didn't say anything to him, just took her things from him, thanked him again and walked away. She didn't want to talk to him now.

It didn't make sense. He told her about the girl who was his new soulmate. He did have another soulmate. So how was it possible that they had the skin bond together?

The second question that came to her mind was if he knew about it. And if he did, why hasn't he told her? She deserved to know that!

She hurried home, hoping Clint would already be there. She needed to tell him about it.

\- - - - -

Steve was sure Natasha knew. Especially after the incident in the hallway, where she saw her drawing on his hand. But she didn't talk to him, she just walked away like if nothing happened.

Maybe it was nothing to her.

But he needed to make a move because if he didn't, he was going to go crazy.

\- - - - -

Steve was standing in front of their school. This was his move. He was gonna wait for Natasha and find out what she thinks about their situation. Because everything was so weird and confusing at that moment, Steve needed to know what she thinks.

It was cold and some people looked at him like if he was crazy, for standing there in the cold air. But he didn't really mind.

When Natasha came, she looked surprised and confused for a second. Then she quickly hid all her emotions behind a cold mask.

That hurt.

"Hey," Steve said when she got close enough to hear him.

"Hi. What are you doing here?" she asked, real curiosity in her eyes.

He never actually found out why it was so easy for him to tell what the girl in front of him was thinking when everyone else struggled to even find out the true meaning of some things she said.

"I... I'm waiting for you... And freezing."

And then she actually laughed. She moved her hand as a sign for him to go inside and followed right after him.

"Why?" she asked.

\- - - - -

Steve told Natasha everything that happened from his point of view. About the girl, about finding out his soulmate was someone else And then he got back to his original soulmate. He didn't forget to add how happy he was because of that.

Natasha just stood there, surprised and silent. She didn't know how to reply to all this.

"I thought you wanted a new soulmate," she said after a moment. It was all she could think of. What if he was mad that he got her back? She just wanted him to be happy.

"Then you were wrong. I never wanted another soulmate. I was more than happy with you."

Natasha looked up at him, trying to find out if he was saying the truth. She still didn't really believe him. Why would he even want to have her as a soulmate? Why would anyone want her as a soulmate?

"I'm not lying. I really like you, a lot," Steve smiled at her and tried to hug her. She let him do it, but she didn't hug him back.

She didn't know what to say. Steve was telling her he liked her and it made her confused. The only person who ever really liked her was Clint. But she has known Clint almost her whole life and he was still with her, so it wasn't hard to believe he liked her. If he didn't, he wouldn't stay with her all this time.

But she has known a Steve for just a few months. Well, almost a year, if she counted the time they spent chatting using their skin. And they spent a big part of that time not talking to each other because of the mess with the bonds.

She had trust issues, she knew it. But she never had a good reason to trust people just like that, so she never did. She desperately wanted to trust Steve right now.

She wanted to say something, but there wasn't any time left. They had to go to school now. Steve didn't say anything on their way to classes and she was really grateful for that. She wasn't in a state where she would want to have a conversation with someone.

\- - - - -

Steve wanted to tell her the whole truth. He wanted to tell her he loved her. But he thought it's the right thing to wait with this. He didn't even know if Natasha wanted him back. She didn't say anything.

After school, he decided to wait for her. He didn't know if it was a good idea, but he had to try.

She was one of the last people to walk out of the building and he wondered why. Was it because she didn't want to see him? But she smiled when she saw him and he took that as a good sign. She wouldn't smile if she didn't want to see him.

\- - - - -

Natasha was thinking about the morning a lot. She didn't pay attention in school and just tried to think of something she could tell Steve when she sees him again. But when the classes ended, she still had nothing. She knew she didn't want to lose him, not again. But she didn't know how exactly she felt about him. She liked him a lot, but she didn't know if it was as a friend or as something else.

When she found out he waited for her, it made her happy. And that was the moment she decided she wanted him back in her life because he made her happy.

They went to the cafeteria they used to go to before all of this mess. She really enjoyed it and realised she missed him even more than she thought.

\- - - - -

When Natasha returned to their apartment that evening, Clint immediately knew what happened. He hasn't seen her this happy since Steve stopped talking to her. So her wide smile and bright eyes could mean only one thing. 

"So Steve asked you out again?" he asked and grinned at her.

She didn't ask how he knew it. He just knew her too well and she expected him to know what happened. He was probably the only person who could read her face so well. But at that moment, it probably wasn't hard for anyone to know she was happy.

"Yeah."

She didn't say anything else. He will ask if he wants to know anything.

\- - - - -

Emily opened the door to her room in the school dorms and was hit by the quiet and the loneliness. She had the room just for herself, even though it was meant for three people. Most of other people would be happy to have so much space for themselves, but she just felt really lonely.

Her dad was one of the sponsors of the university, so he paid for all the three places in her room. He probably thought she would appreciate it.

At first, he wanted her to live in a flat because he had the money to buy it for her, but she refused it and told him she wants to live in the dorms so she could make friends. But her father ruined that too because he made her live alone. She hoped she would have roommates and have a good relationship with them and then maybe they could become friends one day.

She desperately wanted friends or a boyfriend. Everyone else had these at least once in their lives. She didn't. She was always just kind of there, without saying anything. She just listened to the other people and laughed when everyone else did.

She always thought that was what having friends felt like. But then she got older and started paying more attention to how the other people acted when they were with their friends. They talked together, laughed together... She wanted that.

She wanted to have at least someone. So she faked the bond between her and Steve Rogers. It wasn't the best solution, but it seemed like a good idea to her.

She had a crush on him since she started going to this school, but he never noticed her. She couldn't blame him for that because no one ever noticed her. She didn't talk, was used to always standing in the corner or in the back and there wasn't anything actually interesting about her.

She found a magician who could break or create bonds. She paid him to create the bond between her and Rogers. She even had to pay more because Steve wasn't there with her.

She started drawing on her hands after that. She hoped he would do it too, or talk with her through the bond or something like that. He didn't.

Then he found out she was his 'soulmate'. He didn't seem happy about it and was really rude to her. All he cared about was the red-haired girl Natasha Romanoff. She realised he loved the girl, maybe even before he knew that. It was so obvious. And she knew there wasn't anything she could do about it. He would never love her as much as he loved Romanoff.

So she went to the magician again and paid him again, this time to return things back to normal. Rogers and Romanoff were soulmates again and she was alone again.

\- - - - -

The end of the school year was near. Everyone was trying to fix their grades or to make plans for the holiday. Or both.

Natasha was happy. Her grades were great, she had amazing plans for the holiday and she had Steve.

They were planning to spend a big part of the holiday together and she was looking forward to that. Yes, she was excited about the time she was gonna spend with Clint, but Steve was still something new and that made her really excited.

They still weren't actually dating, but lots of people thought that about them. And she could see it coming soon. She could actually see it coming today because she promised herself (and Clint) she would kiss Steve that day. She wanted to do it for a long time now and she wasn't going to wait anymore.

Her plan was simple, just go to the dinner with him and their friends and then kiss him before he goes home. The perfect goodbye and they can sort things out the other day. Or never, if he doesn't want her as a girlfriend. She was sure he wanted her like that before, but now the doubts started coming to her and she was starting to get nervous. What if she read all the signals wrong and he just wanted to be her friend?

But then she always remembered what he told her when they started talking again. He said he likes her. He believed in the soulmate thing and they shared the skin bond, so that meant they were soulmates.

They didn't know how their bond and back. Steve called it a miracle, Natasha called it the weird bond thing. She didn't really believe in miracles, but how else could you explain it? She didn't know.

\- - - - -

Steve was walking to the restaurant where they were supposed to meet. Bucky texted him a while ago - they were all already there and waited just for him. He hated running late, but he had to stay in school a bit longer, because he had to finish one project and today was the last day for it.

When he finally arrived, he didn't have problems finding them. A group of young people in the back of the room, sitting around a table that was too small for all of them, but none of them seemed to care about that. Bucky was sitting next to Tony, who was throwing peanuts at Clint. Natasha was trying not to laugh too loudly while Laura was trying to stop Clint from doing the same thing to Tony. Brice was just awkwardly sitting in the corner with his head in his palms, probably wondering why he even came there. He always looked like he regretted coming, but came again the next week, so he probably just wanted to look seriously.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to finish one project," Steve said when he got to the table. He smiled at Natasha and took the chair next to her.

He was glad all of their close friends got along. He was a bit worried about Cling and Laura, because he didn't know anything about them, but in the end, all worked out. Laura looked like someone who gets on with everyone and Clint didn't have problems with any of them too.

They started meeting like this every Friday evening because it was the only day they were all free. He liked it, it was always fun and they ended up laughing the whole evening.

That day wasn't different. When they were leaving, he was happy and his stomach hurt out of all the laughter.

Natasha was the last one to exit the restaurant. She stood there next to him, probably waiting for something. Did she expect him to do something? He didn't know.

\- - - - -

When everyone except Steve left, Natasha got really nervous. She managed to forget the doubts when they were inside and laughing, but now it all came back. The chance he didn't want to date her wasn't big, but it was still there. And what if it's true and she will just completely ruin their friendship?

But she wouldn't know if she didn't try.

Steve looked at her, obviously wondering why she stayed there and don't go home with Clint. At that moment, she felt a strong urge to just say bye and run home as fast as she could. But she resisted it and stepped closer to him. It was probably awkward, but she didn't want to think about it.

Then she kissed him.

He seemed surprised for a moment, but then he returned the kiss. When it ended, he was smiling at her.

She took it as a good sign.

She couldn't wait for the time they were going to spend together and already planned how she will tell him she loved him. But not now. At that moment, they were just standing in front of the restaurant, smiling like two idiots.


	2. Art Museum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so someone asked for a spin-off about Emily and I actually planned to write this and then I got into the right mood and yeah, here it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bonus chapter about Emily. Enjoy!

The door closed behind her as she walked into the museum. She had to get ready for her shift, but that wasn't hard, the museum allowed them to wear what they wanted, as long as it was appropriate. And she wouldn't even dare to cross the border to inappropriate, because she always felt uncomfortable in things like that.

She found her locker and put her bag inside. She took just her phone from there and put it in the pocket of her trousers. She had it on silent, so it shouldn't be a problem. Then she locked her locker and walked off the room. She had to get to the main entrance, so she could greet people as they came in, like she was supposed to for the first hour of her shift.

She remembered one of her first days there when she greeted one man and he snapped at her because he obviously didn't like the fact that someone talked to him. She ran away because she didn't want to cry in public. She hated crying in public and she always started crying when people yelled at her because she got scared.

Now she was still scared of people yelling at her, but she stopped crying. She had to learn not to cry, with the way her boss talked to them. He seemed angry all the time and she sometimes wondered how is he still able to talk after all that yelling.

She waved at Tom, one of her coworkers. He waved back but didn't say anything. They never actually talked. She never actually talked with anyone, because no one actually cared about her. She was the newest one here and she wondered if she will always be just 'the new one'.

She stood next to the door and waited for them to open. No one actually came this soon, so she allowed herself to not pay attention to her surroundings.

She thought of her life. She worked in an art museum as the person who was supposed to know everything the people wanted to know. She never actually needed to know how her job was actually called. She painted at home, so her flat looked like a mess. And all her paintings were just laying somewhere with dust on them because she didn't have a way to sell them. She asked in the museum because there were sometimes events where she could sell them, but her boss just yelled at her and told her to get lost before she gets fired. Yeah, he was a really nice guy.

She also hasn't talked with her family for a year and a half. As soon as she finished college, she started to look for a job in the city, so she could get away from her parents. She found herself a quite cheap and small flat near the museum and moved there. All that took her two months. Her mum used to come for visits every two weeks, but then Emily started making up excuses because she didn't want to sit in her living room/bedroom with her mother, sipping tea and talking about what she was doing. She was doing the same things all the time. Wake up. Prepare for the day. Catch the bus. Get to work. Work. Catch the bus home. Get home. Paint something, read or just watch a film when she was lazy. Then go to sleep. Sleep for as much time as she could. Wake up. Repeat the previous day.

Yup, her life was pretty boring.

"Emily!" she heard and started paying attention again. She looked at Tom, who was glaring at her angrily. When he noticed she's looking at him, he pointed his head in the direction of the door and straightened up.

Emily ran a hand through her hair and prepared for people. But they were just two, thank god. She hated when there was some event at the museum and people were coming in masses.

These two were both men and they were really hot. Both of them had brown hair, but one of them had them really long, well, for a man. And he had some of them tied in a ponytail. It was quite cute, which sounds weird with the fact that a minute ago, she thought he was hot. But he looked hot... She was confused.

When they walked through the door, she quickly came to them and started talking.

"Hello, my name is Emily and I work here. If you needed anything while you are here, ask me or any of my coworkers and we'll be happy to help you. I hope you enjoy your visit!"

The other guy didn't even look at her much, already looking at the first painting. But the one with the ponytail looked at her for a while longer than comfortable. When he finally stopped and walked away, she felt shivers running on her skin. That was so weird!

\- - - - -

When she got home, she just put her bag on the floor, leaving it packed, because she took the same things with her every day. Then she went to the room, where she had basically everything. She bought a big couch, so she could sleep on it comfortably. Next to it was a table and she used it was a coffee table, normal table and also a desk. She didn't see any reason why she would want to buy more than one table, just to have these things separated. She lived alone, she didn't have to make space for anyone else while eating, so she often ate on the couch or on the floor.

A part of the room was taken by a something like a small kitchen. She had a fridge, a freezer, a microwave, an oven, a cooker and some cupboards. She didn't even know how to cook or bake, so she didn't even use the oven and the cooker. But it was already there and she left it that way.

Then she had a small part of the room reserved just for drawing. That was her favourite part of the room.

Her laptop was on the couch. She took it to one hand and started looking for some good film, using the other hand. She didn't have the inspiration to paint today and she wasn't in a mood to read. a film will have to be enough.

She took bread and cheese from the fridge and started making herself dinner while placing the notebook on the table and watching the beginning of the film.

\- - - - -

She was at work, standing near the door, ready to welcome the newcomers. To her surprise, she saw the man from previous day again. The one with the ponytail.

He didn't have a ponytail that day. Some of his hair was tied in a bun and he was gorgeous. Emily found herself thinking about him for a big part of her shift.

\- - - - -

He came again the other day. And this time, he actually spoke to her.

She was walking through one room, looking if anyone needed help with anything. Then she heard a quiet Hi behind her back and turned to face the long-haired man.

"Can I do anything for you?" she asked with a smile she learned to use when talking to visitors.

"Yeah. I wanted to ask about this painting. It's really beautiful... Can you tell me something about the artist?" the man asked shyly and ran a hand through his hair, that was loose that day.

"Sure!" she answered, happy to have something to do for a while. Then she started talking about Vincent van Gogh.

\- - - - -

The next day, the man was back. He was wearing a dark t-shirt with a shirt over it and torn jeans. His hair was all in a ponytail and he looked great.

When he spoke to her that day, she almost forgot how to talk. But then she happily told him about the artist he picked that day. She didn't know much about Rembrandt, but he seemed satisfied with her answer, thanked her and left to look at some other paintings she recommended him.

\- - - - -

He came the next day too. And the next one. And the next one. And every day, he asked her about some artist they haven't talked about yet. She liked their conversations and she was always excited for them when she went to work.

At some point, their conversations started drifting from the topic and they talked about something completely different, like what their favourite food was or where they studied.

She found out he studied literature in college, but then dropped it and started working in a café. He didn't mention why and she didn't ask. After all, he was still just a visitor to the museum and there were things that could come as rude or inappropriate from her. She really didn't want that.

\- - - - -

Their conversations were amazing and she loved them. He seemed like he actually knew some things about the artists and he asked her about them just so he could have a conversation about them with someone.

She felt amazing with him. She wasn't so nervous anymore, but still a little bit. She didn't feel like a shy and quiet girl who no one liked, she felt like... like someone's friend.

She loved the feeling.

And she admired the man's hair. There were moments when she stopped listening to him because she was thinking of how soft his hair is and how she kinda wanted to touch it.

\- - - - -

After three months of meeting like this, he asked her out. They were talking about Caravaggio when he stopped her and looked at her.

"I just... I wanted to ask if you would like to go out sometimes... Like, with me. On a date..." the man said, clearly nervous, but that wasn't what she was thinking of.

When he said the part about going out, she was already ready to nod and say that she would be really glad to go out with him. But then he said date and she panicked.

She's never been on a date before. She didn't know anything about dates except the things you see in romantic films and she didn't believe actual dates were like that. And she didn't have any friends who would tell her what dates are like, what to wear, how to act...

She started talking before she even realised what she wanted to say in her head.

"I'm sorry, I don't do dates, sorry, I don't wanna, I don't know..." she started blabbing and stopped only at the moment when she looked up and saw his expression. His eyes looked sad and betrayed, but his face didn't give any information.

She didn't want him to feel sad. She just panicked!

But before she could say anything or apologise, he turned away and left. She didn't run after him, she was working and couldn't do that if she didn't want to risk the boss firing her.

After he left, she realised she would actually really want to go on a date with him. But it was too late.

\- - - - -

She hoped he will come back the next day and she would get to apologise to him. But he didn't come. He didn't come the other day and the next one... After two weeks, she gave up waiting for him. He was probably coming so often just so he could get her to the date and maybe he wasn't even as amazing as she thought.

But she missed him. She enjoyed the time spent with him and now, when he wasn't there anymore, she didn't know what to do with all the free time she had when working. She just sometimes helped someone, but people didn't ask for help often. Not many people actually cared about the art, they just came there to spend their free time when they didn't have anything else to do. Or someone made them go there with them. She saw that often, pairs where one of them was really into the art and the other person was just kind of there, walking behind the first one, obviously bored. Sometimes she wondered how many of them broke up and how many of them worked well with the differences.

So she returned to her normal daily routine. She watched the people who came to the museum, watched the way they acted, the way they laughed together... Well, she was used to doing this her whole life, so why didn't it feel like enough now?

Because she got used to having someone to talk with, she realised. And now it was too late to make things right again.

But maybe... Maybe it wasn't.

She knew the guy studied literature, but dropped it and worked in a café. She knew he lived in a flat with his friend. She knew how he looked... It can't be that hard to find him!

\- - - - -

It was hard. It was hard as hell. She tried google, facebook, instagram, twitter... she felt like she already tried everything. But she didn't find anyone who looked like him.

She gave up after four hours spent staring at the screen of her laptop. She wanted to go to sleep, but then she decided to do something she's never done before.

She returned to facebook and looked up some people from her previous schools. Somehow, she remembered all of her classmates from primary school, even though none of them were her friends.

And after some time, she looked for some people she remembered from college. And that's how she ended on Steve Rogers' profile.

And it was the best thing she could've done.

She looked at some pictures of Steve, wondering how did he get even hotter than he was in college. She saw some pictures of him and Romanoff and she had to admit they looked great together. 

And then she saw it.

A picture of Steve with the man from the museum. It was Steve's best friend, James Barnes!

She found out where he worked and decided to go there the next day.

\- - - - -

She was standing in front of a great looking cafeteria. She could really use a coffee at that moment, but that wasn't why she was there.

This was the place where Bucky worked.

She was trying to get the courage to step inside, but she couldn't find it. She was never a brave person and now she hated it about herself. It was just a cafeteria. Just a cafeteria. She was just going to get coffee... She tried to tell herself that, but it didn't work.

She caught sight of one of the people who worked there, a girl with shoulder-length brown hair. The girl was watching her, probably wondering why she just stood there in front of the door.

Then the girl started walking towards her and Emily panicked. So she just ran away.

\- - - - -

The next day, she was back. Back at standing in front of the cafeteria, trying to go inside, but failing.

This time, she didn't notice the girl until she opened the door and walked outside. She couldn't run now.

So she just stood there, looking at the ground and trying to get invisible.

It didn't work. Of course, it didn't...

"I noticed you yesterday... Are you waiting here for someone? Because if the answer is yes, you can go sit inside and you don't have to be here in the cold," the girl smiled and held the door opened.

Emily tried to think of something to say or some way to get away from that place. Why the hell did she have to come back?

"Come on," the girl repeated and shoved Emily lightly. As soon as she stepped inside, the smell of good coffee and something sweet hit her.

The atmosphere inside was amazing. It all seemed so calm and nice...

She sat down to one of the smaller tables and ordered coffee. She needed a good coffee.

She sat there for a while, actually ending up reading. The place was amazing, she already loved it. Now she kind of understood why James wanted to work here so much he dropped college because of it.

She left just a few minutes before they closed the cafeteria. She wanted to go straight home, but the girl from earlier ran to her and smiled at her.

"Hey," she said.

"Hi," Emily answered, wondering why this girl kept approaching her.

"I'm Theresa, by the way. Theresa Gills. But I would appreciate if you called me Tessa because Theresa sounds so formal..." the girl rolled her eyes and looked back at Emily.

Emily took a moment to just look at the girl while they were walking.

Tessa was actually quite pretty. Her hair was brown and cut just a bit above her shoulders. She was quite small, well, at least smaller than Emily. She was wearing glasses and Emily wondered if she wore them because she wanted to or because she needed to. She never understood why people wore glasses just because they wanted to. She went through a time when she had to wear glasses and she was really glad her eyes went back to normal. She hated glasses.

Emily realised Tessa waited for her to introduce herself.

"I'm Emily," she tried to smile, but it probably looked weird. She wasn't good at fake-smiling.

"So, I noticed you yesterday. Why did you run?" Tessa asked and curiously looked at Emily.

"Uh... I wanted to meet a friend here, but then I changed my mind," Emily said, trying to sound casual and not at all like someone who's trying to come up with an excuse so she could leave.

"Aha! Well, come whenever you want, right now, it's just me and Mary working here. Everyone else has a holiday," Tessa smiled and shrugged her shoulders. Then she started walking away and Emily thought she's free now, but then Tessa turned around to face Emily again.

"Do you have someplace to be, or are you free? Do you want to go get dinner with me?" she asked, smiling like if she was high.

Emily considered saying she doesn't have time and leaving, but the girl looked really nice and Emily didn't even remember the last time she had company while having dinner. So she nodded and went with Tessa.

\- - - - -

Tessa turned out to be an amazing company. She talked a lot and it was kind of exhausting, but at least Emily didn't have to talk and that was just perfect for her. But this was the best evening Emily had in the last few years and she decided to keep Tessa's number. She saved it into her phone and threw the paper with it into the trash, hoping she wrote the number right and wouldn't have to come to the café again to ask Tessa for her actual number.

Scared that she would have to do that, she took the paper from the trash and checked the number. And then once again.

After that, she threw the paper in the trash again and assured herself that she already checked the number three times.

\- - - - -

Her days were the same most of the time, except the ones when Tessa called her in the evening, telling her she's gonna pick her up in a few minutes and to wear something good looking. And she dragged her out.

Emily didn't complain, even though she wasn't really comfortable among so many people. But she enjoyed the time with Tessa and the other people didn't even talk to them.

But she preferred the days when they just went to sit to some café or buffet to get dinner. She got to know Tessa pretty well, but that didn't come as a surprise, considering how much she talked.

There wasn't anything extraordinary or outstanding about Tessa, maybe except the way how confident she seemed and how sure she looked about herself. She acted as if she didn't care about anyone else's opinion and Emily really wanted to know how she did that. Because Emily sometimes cared maybe too much.

\- - - - -

They were sitting in a café, Emily with a black coffee, Tessa with juice. She didn't drink coffee. Emily was using one of the rare moments when Tessa ran out of things to talk about and was telling her about their new paintings when Tessa interrupted her.

"You should try to talk to Bucky again."

"Who?"

"Bucky! James Barnes. The friend you've been looking for when we first met." Tessa explained.

Emily didn't know he was called Bucky. She decided to not say anything about that. Why would she? She knew it now and that was the important thing.

"It's complicated."

"What isn't? So come on, tell me what happened that made you two not talk and I'll help you figure things out." Tessa smiled.

Emily hasn't told her much about her relationship with James. The only things Tessa knew were that she met him at the museum and they talked a lot for some time. And then they stopped and that was why she was standing in front of their cafeteria because she wanted to fix things.

"He... He actually asked me on a date." Emily explained.

"Wow... And what? Was it terrible?" Tessa asked, trying to make her expression fit the situation, but Emily could still see signs of her permanent smile.

"There wasn't any date. I said no and I screwed things up."

"Well if you just wanted to stay friends he should be able to understand that! If he doesn't, he isn't worth much," Tessa said, frowning. Her smile was gone now and she looked like if she was gonna get mad.

And Emily continued explaining, "It wasn't like that. I actually wanted to go on a date with him. I just panicked. I've never been on a date before."

Tessa watched her for a moment but decided not to comment anything about that. Emily was really glad she didn't say anything. She was already ashamed enough as it was now.

"Well, that doesn't mean you can't meet him. Okay, he will be at this place, tomorrow at half-past five. Please be here too, because if you won't he will probably kill me for making him go here," Tessa smiled again and picked up her things. Today was Emily's turn to pay, so Tessa could leave whenever she wanted.

\- - - - -

Emily spent the whole evening thinking of what Tessa said. Would James actually be there? And what is she supposed to tell him? Is she supposed to apologise again? Would she have to explain why she said no? She didn't want him to think she's some loser who has never been on a date.

But it would probably be a good idea to explain herself. What did he think of her now?

She couldn't sleep that night because of these questions. She knew she's gonna look like if she was dead the next day, but she couldn't get them out of her mind.

Somewhen around midnight, she was sick of lying in bed. So she got up and started painting. She hasn't painted in a while and it really helped her to calm down.

\- - - - -

She was sitting at a table near the door, so she could see everyone coming in. She was there early, she knew that but what if he was used to coming early too? She didn't want to make him wait.

But he didn't come early. He didn't even come on time. She was tempted to just leave, but then she decided to wait some more time, just to be sure.

The door opened again and she quickly looked there, but it was just some woman with a small kid. Not James...

But then he walked in right behind the woman. She looked around the room and when he saw her, she knew he recognised her.

He slowly walked to her table and sat down on the chair.

"So you're the girl Tessa was talking about?" he asked.

"I think so. Depends on what she told you."

"Just that I know you and that you want to tell me something and explain something," he told her.

"Yup, that would be me."

"So what did you want to explain?"

"Just why I said no to the date. Because it wasn't like I didn't want to go, like, I really wanted to go on the date with you... But I panicked. I've never been on a date before," Emily admitted and looked down at her hands because she wasn't brave enough to face him.

He didn't say anything for a while and she was wondering why. Was he trying to not laugh at her? Did he think she was a loser? He probably didn't want to go on the date with her now.

Then he finally spoke.

"Okay, I didn't expect that. And I really don't understand how is it possible. You're really beautiful," he said and she looked up. He looked embarrassed by what he just said and she had to smile when she saw him like that.

"Well, we are already talking about me being a loser, so I can add the other thing. I have never had a friend before. You were probably the first person who actually wanted to talk to me without just wanting to copy my homework or something like that. So thank you for that." Emily kept looking at him, trying not to blush of embarrassment. She hated admitting these things.

"In that case, people are really dumb if they don't know what they missed," Bucky smiled.

And then they were talking. They were talking normally, like before, and she was so happy! Everything was great again.

\- - - - -

They started going out often. Bucky came to the museum from time to time, but not as often as before.

She loved the moments spent with him. None of them actually said that they were dates, but Emily thought they both knew it.

They were just waiting for the other one to actually say it. Or to do something that would make them both completely sure.

\- - - - -

They left the restaurant and Emily was ready to go home when Bucky took her hand and stopped her.

"Wait. I just... I wanted to do something."

"Okay. What?" Emily asked, starting to be curious.

For a while, nothing happened. And then Bucky moved closer and before she could do anything, he was kissing her. And she didn't even hesitate before she started kissing him back. And it was amazing. It was her first kiss and she was sure it couldn't be better.

Then Bucky ended it. She was sure she was smiling like an idiot.

"I wanted to do this for a long time," he smiled.

"We should do it more often," Emily said and kissed him again.

She really needed to thank Tessa later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some things I didn't mention in the story and I would like to mention them at least now: 
> 
> This story is happening in the same universe as the previous one, so people have soulmates. But some of them don't. That's what I used in this story. Emily's skin never had any drawings on it unless it was Emily who drew them, so she thinks she doesn't have a soulmate. The same thing with Bucky, he used to draw on his hands when he was younger, but there was never a response to it and he assumed he doesn't have a soulmate too...
> 
> Also, this is happening two years after previous chapter.
> 
> Tessa is twenty years old, she studies and works in the cafeteria to get some money to pay her rent because she lives in a flat with her friend. She stayed friends with Emily and after some time, she introduced her to the friend she lives with and they became friends too. That's how Emily got a friend and a boyfriend in one year.
> 
> Emily's paintings were appreciated in the end, because Steve, who was selling his paintings, introduced her to someone and she became a quite famous artist in the end. Not one of those that will be remembered in the future generations, but people were buying her paintings quite a lot.
> 
> Her life was great in the end.
> 
> She and Bucky started living together after a year and a half of dating and they bought a dog.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I hope you liked it. I know it's a bit longer than it probably should be, but I enjoyed writing it and that's the most important thing about this for me. Well, as I said at the beginning, comments would be really nice and they always make me smile, so please, comment your opinion :)  
> Now to the story. If there's anything you would want me to explain, just comment what, but the only thing that comes to my mind right now is why Natasha doesn't like it when people call her Tash. This reason may seem a lot cliche, but I think I mentioned she was adopted somewhere in the story, right? Well, the only thing she has after he real parents is a letter and they call her Tash in it, so it's quite personal for her and she doesn't want other people to call her Tash because of it.


End file.
